Story highlights

It says it will challenge China's claims to the South China Sea at a tribunal

It cites the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

China is involved in territorial disputes with several of its neighbors

The Philippines raised the stakes in its maritime territorial dispute with China by announcing Tuesday it is taking the case to an international tribunal.

The two Asian nations have been at loggerheads over China's claims of sovereignty over large swathes of the South China Sea, one of several tense disagreements between Beijing and its neighbors over waters in the region.

As a result, Manila is challenging China's claims, which include the waters off the west coast of the Philippines, at an international arbitration tribunal, citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The area is a fertile fishing ground and is believed to hold large oil and gas reserves under its seabed.

Tensions between China and the Philippines soared last year during a naval standoff over a remote rocky outcrop in a disputed part of the sea. That crisis lasted months and stoked fears of an open conflict before the Philippines withdrew its ships, citing stormy weather.

The Xinhua report cited Liu Cigui, director of the State Oceanic Administration, as saying that China would continue the patrols "to secure the nation's maritime rights and interests" in areas it claims as its territorial waters.

Asia's disputed islands

At first sight it looks like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie. Journalist Tomas Etzler travels to one of the most remote locations in the South China Sea -- the front line of a dispute between the Philippines and China.